By Travis Fain,
Trinity United Church of Christ
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, shown here with his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, March 10, 2005. Obama on Friday March 14, 2008 denounced inflammatory remarks from his pastor, who has railed against the United States and accused the country of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism.The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a religious mentor of presidential hopeful Barack Obama and the source of racial controversy over some of his remarks, gave two sermons in Macon last fall and is scheduled to return here in October.
In fact, Wright's sermons, at St. Paul AME Church in east Macon, so inspired visiting mayoral candidate Robert Reichert at the time that Reichert drew upon their themes in his inaugural address. In that speech, which many lauded as an attempt to bridge gaps between blacks and whites in the city, Reichert mentioned Wright by name and said the Chicago pastor's messages "have given me courage to share with you some of my innermost thoughts and recent revelations."
Thursday, Reichert said some elements of Wright's Macon sermons "could be construed as racially sensitive" and that circulating video of sermons at Wright's home church are certainly "inflammatory." But Reichert said he'd happily hear Wright speak again, and that "I would urge you to go hear him with an open mind ... and see if he pricks your conscience."
St. Paul AME pastor Ronald Slaughter and one of his chief church members, church CFO Melvin Jones, described Wright as a brilliant man and mesmerizing speaker. The controversy over his remarks has come because the media loves a good conflict and because Obama is a presidential candidate, Slaughter said.
Wright has been heavily condemned since some of the more inflammatory snippets of his sermons circulated on the Internet. Eventually Obama, an Illinois senator and longtime member of Wright's Chicago church, condemned the remarks, but not the man. Obama spoke at length on the topic Tuesday in a speech that focused not only on Wright's remarks but also on race in America.
Perhaps the remark that most offended people was Wright saying black people shouldn't sing "God Bless America" but "God d--- America" for treating its citizens as "less than human."
Said Reichert: "You talk about inflammatory. ... He is really attempting to pose a moral question in some of these situations. What do you think? Do you think 'God bless America' when we do this, when we do that? Or do you think God's going to bring judgment on us for some of this? He is intentionally provocative."
Slaughter said he isn't sure whether St. Paul AME had made a DVD of Wright's Macon sermons, but he also said he wouldn't provide them to The Telegraph if it had. The church did, however, provide photographs of Wright's visit.
Reichert said one of the more provocative moments of Wright's lengthy sermons here was a description of his black grandmother or great-grandmother, a slave, being forced to have sex with a white man. Reichert said Wright made reference to his own light complexion, which didn't come "from standing in the shade." Read the full story here
AL CALLOWAY SAYS: It’s time for blacks to jump ship! by Al Calloway, South Florida Times If you are both an American of African descent and a member of the Democratic Party, one question looms more magnified with each passing day: Are you at least vexed, if not disappointed and angry, at Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign?
It is well documented that Barack Obama supporters and many high placed Democratic Party officials worry that Bill and Hillary Clinton’s scorched earth campaign against Obama will burn the possibility of a Democratic presidency down to the ground.
What is not being openly talked about is the possibility that Hillary’s campaign could also seriously diminish the Democratic Party’s core, which for too long has been taken for granted. Since the South Carolina primary, African-American voters have abandoned the Clintons with 80 to 90 percent voting for Obama.
Americans of African descent appear to be galvanizing with an understanding that more than 90 percent of their voters are Democrats. If a sizable chunk of these voters organize across the country in a loudly publicized fashion to attract even more numbers, and quit the Democratic Party and become Independents, they could reshape the American political and economic landscape.
Clintonism is providing the impetus for such abandonment and a consequent paradigm shift. Many black elected officials, preachers and Democratic Party operatives who have sided with Hillary’s campaign are not only caught in the mire, but must also face a wounded constituency to which they proved to be unaccountable. Read the full story here
It looks like the Republicans know the Clinton's have too much baggage and are not electable. Why else would they are encouraging voters to switch parties to vote for Hillary Clinton? They know the long list of dirt they can release on the Clintons. They lived in scandal.
Will the Democrats let this go on and allow the Republicans to select the least electable candidate? What a pitiful party. At least Republicans have the sense, class and chutzpa to select a candidate and move on to the race for president. I suspect that if it were anyone but a Clinton, the democratic primaries would be over. Democrats should be ashamed.
Primary spurs party changes by Julie Benamati, The Tribune-DemocratAs Monday’s deadline fast approaches to sign up to vote in Pennsylvania’s presidential primary, elections offices in Cambria and Somerset counties report a significant increase in Democratic registrations.
Political party leaders say the contest between Democratic hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton is bringing new voters to the polls – and causing some to change party affiliation altogether.
Cambria County’s election office has seen 955 new voter registrations since October, and 377 voters have changed parties in the past four weeks – about 90 percent of those from Republican or other party to Democrat.
That brings the total number of registered Democrats in Cambria County to 55,098.
Republicans decreased by 79 to 27,811 since October, while 6,643 voters belong to other parties.
A clerk at the county’s elections office said workers have been busy processing forms in recent weeks, which she said is typical in presidential election years. Read the full story here
|
